Milltown Malbay


Milltown Malbay is a town in the west of County Clare, Ireland. Spanish Point is nearby.

Name

There is a townland on the southern edge of the town called Poulawillin or Pollawillin. There is evidence that this name was once applied to the town – for example, in the Parish Namebook of the Ordnance Survey there is a reference to "Baile an Mhuillinn anciently Poll a’ Mhuillinn, Milltown Malbay".
Malbay is the name of the bay to the west of Milltown. The name Malbay is thought to come from the Irish meall-bhaigh, which roughly means "treacherous coast". It could also stem from the legend of the witch "Mal" who was drowned in the bay by Fionn mac Cumhaill.

History

The town has only existed since about 1800 but grew rapidly: by 1821 it had a population of 600. During the Great Famine many farmers were evicted by the unpopular landlord Moroney. In the years after the famine the Moroney family went on with rack renting and evictions. At one time the population had enough and started a boycott. The government did not like that and imprisoned all pub-owners and shopkeepers who refused to serve the family or their servant. So at the end of 1888 most pub-owners and shopkeepers were in jail.
In the lead up to the Irish War of Independence there were a number of incidents in Milltown Malbay. On 14 April 1920 the local population were celebrating the release of hunger strikers from Mountjoy Prison. It turned into the Shooting at Canada Cross when members of the Royal Irish Constabulary and the Royal Highland Infantry Regiment fired into the crowd wounding seven and killing three: Volunteer John O’Loughlan and two civilians Thomas O’Leary and Patrick Hennessy.
Milltown Malbay was also the site of the Rineen Ambush, which took place near Rineen on the main road to Lahinch and Ennistymon. On September 22, 1920, a RIC tender was ambushed there by the Mid-Clare Brigade of the IRA mainly in retaliation for the killing of Martin Devitt at Crow's Bridge earlier in the year. Six policemen were killed in the ambush. In reprisal for the Rineen Ambush, the Black & Tans ran amok in Ennistymon, Lahinch and Milltown Malbay killing six people and burning 26 buildings, including Ennistymon and Lahinch Townhalls.
The Atlantic Hotel was one of the victims of the War of Independence. Owned by the Moroney family and mainly visited by English gentry it had no future and closed down around 1925.
Milltown Malbay was served by the West Clare Railway, which operated from the 2 July 1887 and finally closed on 1 February 1961.
The town had a population of 777 according to the 2016 Census. Including the rural area around the town it counts 1,580 inhabitants.

Business

The main sources of employment in the area are tourism & hospitality, construction and agriculture.
The town has thirteen pubs and five hairdresser/barber's shop. Other businesses are, amongst others, five supermarkets, a hostel, a hardware shop, a bank, a post office, a bridal shop, a bookmaker's office, two pizzerias/take-aways, a clothes shop, a surf shop, a salon, and two barber shops. There are two pharmacies and several restaurants in the town.
There are two large hotels in the vicinity, the Armada Hotel and The Bellbridge House Hotel. There are numerous B&Bs in Milltown Malbay and its surrounding area.

Culture

There are 4 primary schools and 1 secondary school in the surrounding townlands. The primary schools are Milltown Malbay National School, Rockmount National School, Rineen N.S. and Moy N.S.. The secondary school is St Joseph's Secondary School, Spanish Point. St Joseph's draws pupils from the parishes of Milltown Malbay, Kilmurry Ibrickane, Doonbeg, Inagh and Cooraclare.
The town is in the parish of Kilfarboy in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Killaloe, which covers Milltown Malbay and Moy.
Parish churches are St Joseph's in Milltown Malbay and St Mary's in Moy.

Oidhreacht an Chláir Teo

Oidhreacht an Chláir Teo is a research institution located on Flag Road. Its main field of work is research and stimulation of the traditional culture in County Clare.
Oidhreacht an Chláir Teo tries to reach her goals by "the establishment of an institute for education in the traditional culture of Clare, directed primarily towards the higher education and lifelong learning sectors; the provision of a permanent, easily accessible, archive and library for material relevant to the traditional arts in general and, in particular, to the abundant material of local relevance; the provision of a performance centre and associated facilities.
The main target of the Institute are researchers, local people and students.

Willie Clancy

The town is home to the annual Willie Clancy Summer School and Festival. The Willie Clancy Summer School is Ireland's largest traditional music summer school held annually since 1973 in memory of and to honour the uilleann piper Willie Clancy.

GAA

Milltown is home to St. Joseph's Milltown Malbay GAA, Clonbony GAA and Moy GAA.
St. Joseph's are the only senior Gaelic Football team in the parish. They have won the County Clare Senior Football Championship on 15 occasions with the latest win in 2019. Clonbony GAA has three County Senior Camogie Championship titles: 1983, 1984, 1985.

Milltown Massacre

Low point for the Clare GAA football team was the Milltown Massacre in 1979. During a game played in Milltown Malbay the Clare team lost from Kerry GAA by a scoreline of 1-9 to 9-21, a difference of 35 points.

Notable people

;Musicians and singers